Entering the Age of Controller-Free Interactive Technology Research Paper

Entering the Age of Controller-Free Interactive Technology - Research Paper Example Testing Kinect has been thoroughly tested to work efficiently with the Xbox 360. It has built-in features that anticipate the Xbox’s potential downsides like heat. Gizmodo (2010) points out that Kinect tests out the heat in its environment with a sign warning passers-by in all caps, , DO NOT OPEN CRITICAL TEST IN PROGRESS. A tiny built-in fan turns on in demand when Kinect assesses a hot environment when the heat produced by the the three sensors and the atmosphere around it mix to create conditions warmer than Microsoft would like (Gizmodo, 2010). Leyvand et al. (2011) report that the developers of Kinect designed the system to reduce mistaken identities. From the tests, it still commits mistakes, but the system allows the players to correct their identity by running through the Kinect Identity process again to reduce the chances of future misidentifications. Ben Kilgore, Xbox’s general manager, claims that Kinect maps out as many people as it can detect depending on t heir distance from the sensor. It shades the people in different colors. However, if a person lines up with another, they both turn into the same color. Kilgore says the â€Å"design focus† was for two people (Gizmodo, 2010). Accessibility Microsoft is an organization committed to serving people of all kinds of abilities. It claims that its mission is to help people and businesses to realize their full potential with the innovation and technology they produce. However, as Kinect is its newest product, it has yet to develop more accessibility features for disabled users. As it is originally designed for full-body motion it has an inherent physical nature of the gameplay that may not serve disabled users well. Microsoft is working to improve the system’s skeletal tracking technology...Gaming technology has come a long way from the antiquated portable Game and Watch to the early video game consoles like Atari, Nintendo Family Computer and old versions of Play Stations. No w, three gaming consoles dominate the market namely Nintendo Wii, Sony Play Station 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360. This paper will focus on Microsoft Xbox 360’s latest additional feature called Kinect which is a gadget designed to work with the Xbox for controller-free gaming and entertainment experiences. The article of Dudley-Nicholson (2010) entitled â€Å"Microsoft’s Back in the Game† which came out in the Herald Sun on November 17, 2010 is the springboard article for this paper. Originally known by the code name of Project Natal, Kinect for Xbox 360 works by using a camera to track 48 parts of the human body, from head to hips, knees to feet and identify colors. An infra-red projector and image sensor detects objects in three dimensions. It is also equipped with microphones to identify voices by removing background noise (Dudley-Nicholson, 2010). The human mind is never satisfied as it continually conceives of new ideas to implement and create intelligent technology to make life more convenient. This is evidence that no matter how impressive new technology continues to develop, human beings will still reign as its masters.